


catching up

by martainez



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 05:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martainez/pseuds/martainez
Summary: Phil's very tired and Dan talks to Kath on the phone.





	catching up

January 16th, 08:21 pm, finds Dan and Phil slouched on their couch, catching up on whatever brain dead entertainment the tv schedule serves them. 

(‘Catching up’ by the definition that one of them is actively watching, trying to understand _how the hell someone would want to eat raw octopus drained in sauerkraut juice just to win a few thousand dollars,_ while the other is fighting to keep his eyes open.) 

It’s not boredom that makes Phil’s eyes drop, it’s the exhaustion he feels in his bones after being so active - so _extroverted_ \- for the past days, weeks even. It’s the hours of sleep he’s lost that’s now not only creeping up on him, but running, hunting him down until he’s nothing but in a deep slumber. 

He’d let it drag him down, if it wasn’t for that irritating (okay, it’s not irritating, he’s just grumpy due to tiredness) phone call he’s been waiting for for the past half an hour. 

It’s from Kath. She texted him and told him to be ‘ready for a call in a few minutes’. But that was 32 minutes ago. That’s not ‘a few’, that’s way past few. 

But he can’t _not_ take this call. It’s his mother for God’s sake, he can’t ignore a call like that. He would never. 

But maybe he doesn’t have to torture himself by sitting in this awkward angle, straight back (as if his school nurse from back home would come running in, yelling, if he slouched even the slightest) and legs crossed. When he sat down earlier, he convinced himself that this particular position would keep him alert (because who falls asleep sitting up awkwardly? Right?). But now, 35 minutes into the show he fears that he might contradict himself, because he is - sure as hell - on his way to fall asleep in that position. And that would be bad for both his back and his neck. He’d wake up sore and grumpy, and nobody would want that. 

Dan’s half sitting, half lying, comfortably in the corner of the couch. Both feet prompted up on the sofa cushions. He looks soo warm, soo cuddly, soo inviting. Surely no one can judge Phil for wanting to lay next to him, rest his head with his ear over Dan’s heartbeat.

Cuddle up close, absorb some warmth and maybe, maybe rest his eyes. For a few minutes. Not sleep, just rest. 

Phil’s done rationalising after a few minutes. He scoots over, folds his long legs on the couch and lets his head fall down on Dan’s chest. Immediately there’s a hand in his hair, playing with the stray hairs that are falling from his quiff.

He’s so tired. A yawn escapes his lips. 

“Stop fight it, Phil,” Dan says calmly. 

“I can’t. Phone call, remember?” Phil mumbles. 

Dan lets his hand travel down to the nape of Phil’s hair, and leans down to leave a peck on the top of his head. He lets his lips linger as he says, “it’s okay, I’ll answer,” 

“What?” 

“Kath won’t be disappointed, she always says she wishes she’d talk to me more anyway.”

It not a bad idea. It’s really not. Kath does love Dan, that’s a fact, she says it all the time. And she loves talking to him, just as much as he loves talking to her sons. 

“I guess,” Phil says, it’s barely audible by now. Just a soft whisper. 

“Goodnight,” Dan says, and he presses his lips to Phil’s head one more time. Bringing an arm around him, pulling him slightly closer. 

Phil’s out like a light before he knows it. 

 

* * * 

 

The program has run till its end, and the after credits have started to roll when Phil's phone suddenly goes off. It’s the standard ringtone, Phil never got around to make personalised ones when he bought his phone a few years back. But it doesn’t matter, Dan knows it’s Kath - who else would it be? 

He reaches for the phone, and as expected a lovely photo of Kath (sitting at her dinner table with a cup of tea in her hands, and some bread crumbs forgotten on the saucer), filling the entire screen. 

He slides his thumb over the green phone symbol. 

“Hey,” he says.

“Oh, Dan?” she answers, sounding almost pleasantly surprised.

“Yeah, Phil’s not... available. Sorry.” He peeks down at Phil as he says it. He’s still sound asleep on his chest, now with his mouth slightly ajar, surely creating a wet patch on Dan’s sweater. 

“Is it so? How come?” 

“He’s-“ he pauses, removes the phone from his ear and presses the ‘facetime’ option on the screen. “Just look for yourself”. 

The camera is facing the mess of hair that’s located just under Dan’s chin. He brings it further back, making the lens take in more of their bodies. Kath should now be able to see a beautiful, under-chin angle of Dan with his boy snoring on him. 

“Aw,” she coos. Her picture on the screen is blurry - _Isle of Mann has some terrible WiFi_ -but Dan can’t miss the smile that’s undeniably spreading on her lips. 

He goes back to normal phone mode and brings the phone back to his ear. “I thought he deserved to rest a little.”

“Has he been tired lately?” She sounds worried, like a good mother should be at the thought of her son not sleeping well at night.

“Yeah, I guess. But I mean, he’s had reasons,” he answers quickly. 

“A lot of work? Things needing to get done with?” 

“Not exactly, mostly it’s been because we’ve interacted with a lot of friends and family in the past few days. It’s great and all, but also draining. Phil’s a true introvert after all”, Dan says, he smiles at he lovely memories both the word ‘interacted’ and ‘introvert’ brings. 

“That sounds like a good kind of ‘tired’ then,” Kath says.

“The best.”

(Okay, that may have been a slight exaggeration. The best kind of tired was absolutely the tired that came with the jet lag when returning from their Japan trip.) 

He can hear rustling on the other end. “I won’t keep you on the line, then. I’m sure you’re tired as well.” The warmth in her voice is evident. She truly cares about him. 

“Please don’t, I could do with someone to talk to.”

“You sure?” 

“Absolutely,” He pulls Phil closer, it’s more comfortable that way. Phil grunts in his sleep, but doesn’t wake up. “How’s your day been?” 

Kath sighs, “Nigel and I, we had to spend the whole day in the garden clearing it from loose branches that the storm last night pulled down from the trees”.

“The downside to having a garden,” Dan says.

“It really is. You guys were not affected?” 

Dan makes some kind of thinking noise, something between a sigh and a hum.

“Not really, I mean, obviously the wind was a little scary, but I slept through it,” he says eventually. He looks down at Phil, lets his hand caress down his jawline. “Phil didn’t though.”

He knows he sounds a little sad as he says it, but he can’t help it. Dan always feels sad thinking about Phil not feeling his best. 

Kath must feel the say, because her voice is low and gentle when she answers, “he never sleeps through storms, it’s the weird enthusiasm he has for them. They both scare and intrigue him. Too many emotions to sleep, I guess”.

“Yeah,” Dan mumbles, “I always tell him to wake me up when he can’t sleep. But he’d never. He’s too polite.” 

He can practically hear the smile spreading on Kath’s face. “The downside to having a Phil.” 

Dan chuckles, “it really is.”

He goes silent. Kath does too, she’s obviously waiting for Dan to say whatever suddenly got on his mind. But the thing is, he’s not entire sure what’s on his mind. He bows his head down, gives Phil a quick peck on his forehead. 

“The thing is, Kath,” he pauses, trying to formulate his thoughts into something understandable, “sometimes I wish he weren’t.”

“Elaborate, love,” she says softly.

“I just wish he didn’t keep all his thoughts and feelings to himself, I know he does it to spare me from his problems” he signs, “but I don’t wanna be spared. I love him, I do, I appreciate that he’s so polite. He’s always been the most loving and thoughtful person in my life, but feeling like he has to bottle things up, that’s not being polite. That’s just... sad. It makes me sad”. 

He hears the sadness in his own voice. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to Phil. It’s not fair to sit here and almost trash talk him, not when he can’t defend himself. And Dan immediately hates himself for it. 

Kath doesn’t get a chance to answer before Dan’s on about it again.

“I don’t mean that I want to change him, I’d never want that. His overly-politeness is a contribution to what makes Phil Phil, and I love everything that makes Phil himself. I just- it makes me hurt seeing him sad and not being able to do anything about it,” he talks fast, desperate for Kath to understand him.

And she does. “Easy, love, I never doubted your love for Phil. I know you want what’s best for you both, and I know it’s hard when you feel powerless. But, I also happen to know one thing, he hates it when you have sleepless nights. Don’t you think that, maybe, seeing you fast asleep in the bed all night makes him happier than if he’d have to keep you up watching the storm?” 

And of course, the wise woman named Kathryn is right once again. 

“Yeah,” he whispers. A single tear falling from his eye. 

“And isn’t that all you want? For Phil to be happy.” 

“It is”. 

“You know he knows that he can talk to you,” Kath says as a matter of fact. 

“I make sure he knows that on a weekly basis”. 

“And he does, doesn’t he?” 

Dan cuddles Phil closer, again. “It wouldn’t be fair to say he doesn’t. He tells me a lot more now than he did ten years ago”. 

“Give him another ten years and he’ll never shut up about his problems,” Kath chuckles.

Dan smiles to himself, “can’t wait”. 

  
* * *

 

They talk for another two minutes before Kath says she has to go. Two polite goodbyes follow and then the phone goes silent. He locks the screen and puts it down next to him. 

Phil’s still fast asleep, unaware of the conversation that just took place next to him. But that’s okay, Dan will probably fill him in on the details later, (most of them anyway). 

He thinks about picking up on where he left on the tv show earlier, just watching another episode before going to bed. But he decides against it when Phil’s lets out a particularly loud snore. It looks inviting, really, to be asleep, and it’s not that early. He could go to bed with a clean conscious. 

He squeezes Phil’s shoulder to wake him up, Phil grunts as he tries to cuddle further into Dan. 

“We're going to bed, come on,” Dan says and pokes him in the side. When Phil doesn’t react, he repeats the motion. 

“Stop it, I’m awake,” Phil says as he tries so swat Dan’s hand away. 

“Come on then”. 

They make their way to the bedroom slowly, only stopping by the toilet to do their business, remove contacts lenses, and brush their teeth.   
  


* * *

 

09:52 pm finds Dan and Phil underneath the duvet, snuggled up together. It’s way earlier than they usually go to bed, but they’ve earned it. Earned a good old twelve-hour sleep. 

“Did mum ever call?” Phil mumbles into the skin of Dan’s chest, on which he’s currently resting his head.

“She did”. 

“What did you guys talk about?” 

Dan thinks about telling him, but it’s a long conversation to recall and he’s not really in the mood to try to explain complex emotions, “I’ll tell you tomorrow”. 

Phil just hums, surely too tired to do anything else. And that’s when Dan decides to not have a conversation any longer, it’s late- _ish_ , they’re both tired. 

“Goodnight, love you,” Dan says as he leaves a good night kiss on Phil’s forehead. 

Phil snuggles closer. “Love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what to say...


End file.
